Tafsir of Surah Saba' - Verse 7

The Disbelievers' Denial of Life after Death, and the Refutation of Their View

Here Allah tells us how the disbelievers and heretics denied that the Hour will come, and mocked the Messenger ﷺ for speaking of it.

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ هَلْ نَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى رَجُلٍ يُنَبِّئُكُمْ إِذَا مُزِّقْتُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ

(Those who disbelieve say: "Shall we direct you to a man who will tell you (that) when you have become fully disintegrated into dust with full dispersion...") means, when your bodies have disintegrated into the earth and dispersed without a trace,

إِنَّكُمْ

(then you) means, after this has happened,

لَفِى خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ

(will be created (again) anew) means, you will be restored to life and will receive provision anew. `By telling us this, he is doing one of two things: either he is deliberately fabricating something and saying that Allah has revealed it to him, or he is not doing it deliberately, but he is deluded as crazy and insane people are.' They said:

أَفْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِباً أَم بِهِ جِنَّةٌ

(Has he invented a lie against Allah, or is there a madness in him) Allah said, refuting their words:

بَلِ الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالاٌّخِرَةِ فِى الْعَذَابِ وَالضَّلَـلِ الْبَعِيدِ

(Nay, but those who disbelieve in the Hereafter are (themselves) in a torment, and in far error.) meaning, the matter is not as they claim or as they think; on the contrary, Muhammad ﷺ is the one who is telling the truth, and is righteous and wise; he is the one who has brought the truth, and they are the foolish and ignorant liars.

فِى الْعَذَابِ

are themselves( in a torment, means, their disbelief, which will lead them to the torment of Allah.

وَالضَّلَـلِ الْبَعِيدِ

(and in far error.) far from the truth in this world. Then Allah warns them of His power in the creation of heavens and earth, as He says:

أَفَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ إِلَى مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ وَالاٌّرْضِ

(See they not what is before them and what is behind them, of the heaven and the earth) meaning, wherever they go, in whatever direction, the heavens are above them and the earth is beneath them. This is like the Ayah:

وَالسَّمَآءَ بَنَيْنَـهَا بِأَيْدٍ وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ - وَالاٌّرْضَ فَرَشْنَـهَا فَنِعْمَ الْمَـهِدُونَ

(With Hands did We construct the heaven. Verily, We are Able to extend the vastness of space thereof. And We have spread out the earth; how Excellent Spreader (thereof) are We!) (51:47-48)

إِن نَّشَأْ نَخْسِفْ بِهِمُ الاٌّرْضَ أَوْ نُسْقِطْ عَلَيْهِمْ كِسَفاً مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ

(If We will, We shall sink the earth with them, or cause a piece of the heaven to fall upon them.) means, `if We wished, We could do that to them because of their wrongdoing and Our power over them, but We delay it because We are Patient and Forgiving.' Then Allah says:

إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لاّيَةً لِّكُلِّ عَبْدٍ مُّنِيبٍ

(Verily, in this is a sign for every Munib servant.) Ma`mar narrating from Qatadah, said that Al-Munib means every one who repents. Sufyan narrated from Qatadah, that Al-Munib is the one who turns to Allah. This means that in looking at the creation of the heavens and the earth, there is a sign for every servant who is intelligent and wise and who turns towards Allah. There is a sign of the Allah's ability to recreate bodies and bring about the Resurrection, because the One Who was able to create these heavens -- with their vast reaches of space, and this earth, as deep and vast as it is -- is able to recreate bodies and revive decayed bones. This is like the Ayat:

أَوَلَـيْسَ الَذِى خَلَقَ السَّمَـوتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ بِقَـدِرٍ عَلَى أَن يَخْلُقَ مِثْلَهُم بَلَى

(Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth, Able to create the like of them Yes, indeed!) (36:81)

لَخَلْقُ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ أَكْـبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْـثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind; yet, most of mankind know not. ) (40:57)

Reported in verse 7: وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا هَلْ نَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَىٰ رَ‌جُلٍ يُنَبِّئُكُمْ إِذَا مُزِّقْتُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ إِنَّكُمْ لَفِي خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ (Shall we point out to you a man...). There is a statement of disbelievers who denied the coming of Qiyamah. In an exercise of mockery, they used to say, 'come, let us identify an unusual person for your benefit, a person who loves to tell you how, when you die and become dust, totally powdered into countless particles, even after all that, you will be brought into a new creation - and that you, all reshaped into the form you once were, will be made to stand up alive!'

It is obvious that the person alluded to here is no other but the Holy Prophet ﷺ who used to tell people that Qiyamah will come when the dead will become alive once again, and exhorted people to put their faith in it. All these people who were deriding him knew him perfectly well, but in the present context, they have mentioned him in a manner as if they knew nothing else about him - nothing else but that he tells people about the dead rising alive on the day of Qiyamah. They had purposely elected to refer to him in that manner just to mock and deride him.

The word: مُزِّقْتُمْ (when you are totally torn into pieces) is a derivation from: مزقِ (mazq) which means splitting apart and rendering to pieces, and: كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ (kulla mumazzaq: (totally torn) means the disintegration of the human body in a manner that all its particles get dispersed separately. Onwards from here, they take up another mode to comment on his statement relating to the Qiyamah.

The people of Makkah held the Prophet and his companions in contempt, and used to mock them. They did so due to their disbelief in the Hereafter and because in their hearts they were not fearful of God’s scourge; this made them quite flippant about the affairs of the Hereafter. The worst punishment for a man in this world is to be incapable of right thinking. One so punished is not capable of seeing things in their proper perspective. He is unable to learn lessons even from obvious realities. For example, innumerable stones of varying sizes, fall towards the Earth’s surface but get destroyed as soon as they come in contact with our atmosphere. If these stones were to start falling on human habitation, the entire humanity would be wiped out. A major part of the centre of the earth consists of hot molten lava. If that lava were to erupt and flow unchecked over the surface of the earth, everything in its path would be burnt to a cinder. But God, having made special arrangements, does not allow such catastrophic events to occur. There are clear signs in heaven and on earth which show man’s helplessness. But when a man is incapable of right thinking, no sign of God can give him guidance.